Which to use
“lais” and “lis” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #41,862
- “lais” frequency rank
- #3,147
- “lis” frequency rank
- 45009
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lais | lis |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Jeune baliveau de l’âge du bois, qu’on laisse quand on coupe le taillis, afin qu’il vienne en haute futaie. | Genre de liliacées qui porte, sur une haute tige, des fleurs à trois pétales et trois sépales pétaloïdes. |
Where the eye mixes lais and lis
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses lais with lis
A purely visual mix-up. lais (\lɛ\) and lis (\lis\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45009, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lais is recorded at frequency rank #41,862, classified as anoun, pronounced \lɛ\. lis is at rank #3,147, tagged as anoun, pronounced \lis\.
Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.
With a confusion score of 45009, this pair ranks #206,101 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of lais vs lis
Shared letters: ils. Private to "lais": a. Private to "lis": -.
"lais" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "lis" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- lais ← alis · laiss · lasi · llais
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "lais" and "lis" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "lais" vs "lis" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "lais" and "lis" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "lais" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lis" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #206,101 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lais" and "lis" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lago vs lais". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #206,101 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.